Running Away
by LullabyDust
Summary: Fai is sick of his father's constant beatings and decides to run away... with a certain favorite red-eyed boy in tow, of course XD KuroFai. Oneshot.


Theme Three – Running Away

_~ WARNING: A little OOC-ness on Kurogane's part, sorry. His normal personality just didn't fit the scene ^^' I'll make up for it next chapter, promise! ~_

Fai quietly slipped the last of his belongings into a thread-bare backpack and slung it over his shoulder. There wasn't much: toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb, two pairs of jeans and three shirts, forty dollars, and an old photograph.

The photograph had been taken years ago, when he and Kurogane and Yui were just freshmen. Kurogane was on the football team, of course, and he stood there in full uniform, glaring at the camera with one arm slung over Fai and Yui each. Fai loved that photo because they all had a different expression: Kurogane angry, Yui indifferent, and Fai positively beaming. The colors were starting to fade and the edges were worn, but he carried it with him everywhere.

Anyways.

He glanced around the room to make sure he hadn't missed anything, but he hadn't. The entirety of his life had been shoved into a backpack smaller than the one he used for school. The only things he was leaving behind were his textbooks and the mattress he slept on- no pillow, no blanket, no soccer trophies proudly displayed on shelves (or shelves, for that matter). He sighed, pushed open the door and stepped into the hall.

He was halfway down the stairs when something occurred to him. He turned around and went back up.

"Yui," he whispered, shaking the door lightly. He twisted the handle, surprised to find it unlocked, slipped inside, snuck over to the bed and shook his brother awake. _"Yui!"_

"_What?"_ grumbled Yui, groping around for a light switch that didn't work. The electricity had been cut off months ago when their father stopped paying the bills. He squinted in the dark. "Fai, is that you?"

"Yeah."

"Did Dad-"

"No."

Yui visibly relaxed. He stared at Fai for a few moments, then reached out slowly to touch the eye patch over his left eye, cool fingertips settling uncertainly on cloth and part of his cheek. Fai closed his eye.

"_Would you two shut __**up?**__" roared his dad, barreling into the room where he and Yui had been debating- not even arguing, really- about a question on their science homework. "Just __**once**__, I'd like some peace and quiet in this house!"_

"_Sorry, Dad," Yui had immediately apologized. "We were having trouble with our homework. We'll be quiet now."_

"_We weren't that loud," muttered Fai. Yui elbowed him into silence, but it was too late. His dad fixed him with a death glare._

"_**What did you say?"**__ he growled._

"_Nothing, sir," Yui tried to cut in, but Fai straightened up, matched his father's death glare and raised it to cold-hearted massacre._

"_We weren't that loud," he said firmly. "You're always saying we should focus more on school and that's exactly what we're doing. If it really bothers you that much then maybe you should leave."_

_He could smell the alcohol on his breath even from this far away. Really, he should have known better. And he __**saw**__ his father's hands twitch around the bottle he was holding, if he had ducked, it wouldn't have been a problem-_

Yui jerked his hand away like he'd been shocked and drew in a shaky breath as he sat up. He seemed for the first time to take in Fai's full attire.

"Why are you dressed?"

"Because I'm leaving," Fai said without hesitation. He had thought it would be hard to tell him this and was surprised at how easy it was. Yui stared.

"What am I supposed to tell Dad?"

"Tell him- I dunno, that I'm staying at Uncle Ashura's for a few days or something. Make something up."

"But he'll be furious!"

"Name one time he's ever hit you," challenged Fai, and Yui bit his lip. "You'll be fine."

"But what if-"

Fai gripped his wrist tightly.

"If he does," he hissed, "then you'll leave, too."

Yui nodded weakly. It was strange to see him so scared, Fai thought. Yui was always the smart, sensible, protective one, always knew exactly how to smooth things over and make everyone happy, or at least not violently angry, while Fai seemed to possess the exact opposite skills. But Yui was never scared.

Fai let go and slowly stood up.

"'bye," he said softly, and then he flew down the stairs and out the front door before he could change his mind.

~X~X~

It occurred to Fai several hours later that it maybe would have been helpful to have at least some idea where he was going before he left. Even a general direction like 'North' would be welcome at this point.

Before long, though, he found himself in the neighborhood he used to live in with his mom before she- he shook his head clear of those thoughts and focused instead on where he was going, or where he would be going if he had any clue at all where it was.

His feet fell into a familiar rhythm on a familiar path. At first he couldn't figure out why it was familiar, but then he realized he was going to Kurogane's house, just a five-minute walk from his mom's. He started to stop, started to turn around, but his feet, unaccustomed to the foreign idea of _not_ going to see Kurogane, wouldn't let him. He finally gave up the struggle and admitted to himself that he really _did_ want to see him again.

Kurogane's room was on the second floor, and of course all the doors and windows were locked, so he stood in the backyard collecting rocks an throwing them at Kurogane's window for fifteen minutes. He felt like a high school kid in a cheesy movie trying to win back his girlfriend's love- well, it was partially true. Just replace 'girlfriend' with 'boyfriend'. _~ A/N: and 'movie' with 'fanfiction' XD ~_ Anyways, it worked. The window finally slid up and Kurogane poked his head out.

"What the hell do you think you're- Fai!"

"You gonna let me in or what?"

"Yeah, just- one sec."

Kurogane ducked back inside and the window slammed shut, but it was another ten minutes before he opened the back door and snuck out.

"Sorry, my mum's still up watching T.V. so I can't let you in," he apologized hastily. Fai shrugged. Kurogane stared at him for a long time. Why was everyone doing that lately? Did the eye patch really make him look that different? "How come you never called?"

"No phone at my dad's."

"E-mail?"

"No computer. We used to have T.V and an old Xbox, but we sold it just a few weeks ago. Besides, I wrote, didn't I?"

"Once," pointed out Kurogane. "To tell me about-" He reached out and touched the eye patch, brushing against' Fai's cheek as he did so, then tangled his fingers in damp blonde hair. He leaned forward and kissed Fai gently. "I missed you," he muttered.

Fai shivered. The air was cold and humid, and he didn't own a jacket. Kurogane was warm, though. "I missed you, too."

Kurogane's eyes wandered up and down Fai's body until they settled on the backpack hanging off his shoulder. He grinned. "What's in the bag?"

Fai sighed. As always, Kurogane had a one-track mind.

"Nothing you'd be interested in," he said, "except maybe the forty bucks."

Kurogane looked disappointed, but he took it in stride. "You wanna walk to the park?"

Well, as far as destinations went, it was a start. Fai shrugged again and they started walking.

"So, what _is_ in the bag?"

"Clothes. Money. Stuff," said Fai dismissively, hoping Kurogane wouldn't put two and two together. Kurogane stopped and looked at him.

"You going somewhere, Fai?"

"Yeah. To the park. With you."

"Look at me, Fai."

"No," said Fai, staring at the ground.

"So what, you came here to say goodbye or something?"

"Sort of. Are we going to the park or what?"

"Do you not want to see me again?

"What?" said Fai, looking up sharply. "I'm leaving because of my dad, why would you even think it was you? If I didn't want to see you again, I'd just let your parents take care of that, they've done such a good job already."

"I know it's not _because_ of me, what I want to know is-" he hesitated, then finished, "do you want me to come with you?"

It was Fai's turn to stare at Kurogane now. He felt his cheeks flush pink.

"You'd really do that?" he demanded. "You'd be giving up… _everything,_ Kuro-chu! I can't ask you to do that!"

Kurogane blushed furiously, although it was hard to see in the dark.

"You're not asking me, idiot. I'm offering. Yes, I'd really do that. I just thought, maybe you wanted a fresh start, something completely new, and me coming with you would ruin that so I had to ask-"

Fai launched himself at Kurogane and kissed him without warning. Kurogane stumbled back a few steps out of surprise, but then kissed him back roughly, running callused fingers through snowy hair.

"Yes," whispered Fai. "Yes, I want you to come."

Kurogane grinned.

"So where, exactly, are we running away to?"

"Dunno," said Fai, shrugging. "I think we were headed to the park a few minutes ago. That's a start."

Kurogane laughed, ran a hand down his arm and laced his fingers with Fai's.

"The park it is."

~ FIN ~

(of chapter three out of one hundred T.T)

_~ Okay, so this one was much better than my last two. Let's hope I can keep it up. I love making Kurogane and Fai high school kids because it lends itself to angst so easily ^^_

_Review if you thought Fai was going to run away and Kurogane would have to chase after him (which, admittedly, was originally the plan, but lately my stories just seem to be taking on a mind of their own). Actually, just review anyway, please XD ~_


End file.
